Your weekly random thoughts …
The free-falling economy has already had a terrible impact on boxing, and it's not over yet. There was the recent cancellation of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo" and ESPN2's "Wednesday Night Fights." There were terribly weak live gates for good matchups such as
Joe Calzaghe-
Roy Jones,
Shane Mosley-
Ricardo Mayorga and
Chad Dawson-
Antonio Tarver. Ticket sales for Saturday's
Ricky Hatton-
Paulie Malignaggi fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas are also struggling mightily.
Pay-per-view numbers are also in the toilet. The Oct. 18
Bernard Hopkins-
Kelly Pavlik fight did a pathetic 190,000 buys. The Nov. 8 Calzaghe-Jones fight will settle at about 240,000 buys, which is a horrifically poor number -- a downright disaster -- for a fight of that magnitude, especially one supported by three episodes of HBO's "24/7." When the fight was originally made, those involved thought it would generate double that.
Now, the biggest fight of the year, the Dec. 6 bout between
Oscar De La Hoya and
Manny Pacquiao also is showing signs of struggling. Since I stay frequently at the MGM Grand for fights, I am on its mailing list for various offers. I was taken by surprise by an email solicitation I received this week. It was an offer that would never be extended in a million years if De La Hoya-Pacquiao was doing robust business. There were three offers for cut-rate tickets and hotel rooms for the fight along with other perks. The first package cost $3,399. You get two $1,500 "premium tickets" to the fight, two nights in a "deluxe room," the ability to check into the hotel in the VIP line and $100 toward gambling activity. A second offer for $1,899 included two $750 tickets to the fight, the same two nights in a "deluxe room," VIP check in and $50 of gambling activity. The third package cost $1,399 and included a pair of $500 tickets and the same perks as the second package.
If that doesn't open your eyes to the cold reality of boxing's business struggles in this economy, I'm not sure anything will.
• After watching former cruiserweight champ
David Haye's shaky (but exciting) knockout of
Monte Barrett (and having seen virtually every one of Haye's pro fights), I just don't think Haye stands a chance if he ever faces
Wladimir Klitschko or
Vitali Klitschko, two fighters he says he wants to fight. Haye is simply too small and, more important, does not have the chin to take their powerful shots. Either Klitschko will drill him.
• So let me see if I have this straight:
Antonio Margarito passed on $4 million to fight
Paul Williams in a rematch and now has passed on $2 million to fight Mosley. Sounds like we have another scholarship winner to the
Winky Wright School of Boxing Business.
• It just never ends with
Evander Holyfield, who, at 46 and coming off a lopsided loss 14 months ago in a title bout, is getting a massively undeserved shot at heavyweight titleholder
Nikolai Valuev on Dec. 20. But let's say that Holyfield somehow, with a miracle, wins. That apparently won't be good enough for the heavyweight champ of delusion. At a press conference this week promoting the fight, Holyfield said, "My goal is to be undisputed champion, not just to win one title." That would be funny if it wasn't so sad.
• In the span of seven days in December, Holyfield and
Hasim Rahman will each fight for versions of the heavyweight championship. Are we in 2000 or something?
• Here's a fight I'd like to see next year:
Alexander Povetkin's tree root against
Zab Judah's shower door.
• Two questions for the Fight Freaks:
1. Do you think all Calzaghe fans wish that next time he fights -- we all know he will fight again -- the bout would start in the second round so he can avoid being knocked down?
2. With all of the rhetoric flying back and forth between De La Hoya and Pacquiao's trainer,
Freddie Roach, doesn't it seem as though De La Hoya is going to be facing Roach instead of Pacquiao on Dec. 6?
• Before
Jermain Taylor and promoter
Lou DiBella get all caught up trying to land a fight with light heavyweight champ Calzaghe, the fight I'd rather see would be Taylor staying at super middleweight to face titleholder
Mikkel Kessler. One fight you won't see is Taylor against Jones, even though somebody from the Jones camp called DiBella almost immediately after Taylor had defeated
Jeff Lacy to inquire about Taylor's interest in fighting Jones. Are they insane? Who in their right mind would have one iota of interest in seeing Taylor-Jones? Please. Doesn't Jones, who was dominated by Calzaghe the week before Taylor-Lacy, know that enough is enough?
• The undercard from Saturday's Taylor-Lacy fight was solid from top to bottom even though you didn't see it unless you were in the arena in Nashville. It should have been the undercard for the previous week's Calzaghe-Jones televised card instead of the mess that was put on PPV. In Nashville, the highlight was the terrific all-action battle between heavyweights
Chazz Witherspoon and
Adam "The Swamp Donkey" Richards. Also, heavyweight Olympic bronze medalist
Deontay Wilder's pro debut was interesting and ended with a good knockout, and although the
Kermit Cintron-
Lovemore N'Dou welterweight eliminator was not the best fight, at least it had some meaning. Throw in an appearance by super middleweight contender
Allan Green and middleweight prospect
Fernando Guerrero's sensational knockout and it was an excellent card. And get this -- DiBella said it cost him only about $100,000. Jones' company, which put the undercard together for its show, spent about $500,000 on a terrible undercard that included a number of weak matches. Imagine what DiBella, who knows how to make entertaining TV fights as well as anyone who ever lived, could have done with that much money?
•
DVD pick of the week: It was almost sad to watch Calzaghe beat up Jones because in his prime, I believe Jones would have beaten him. To remind myself of what a prime Jones looked like I went back to April 25, 1998, when Jones faced the well-respected former light heavyweight champ
Virgil Hill. Jones was one fight removed from waxing
Montell Griffin in one round in their rematch, and he was dominant again. Jones was in control when he landed one of the greatest body shots ever as he cracked Hill's ribs and knocked him out in the fourth round. The grimace on Hill's face hurt just to watch. That was Jones in his prime and it was a long time ago.
Dan Rafael
